The contrast between the Game Awards winner and the Steam Awards winner tells us everything about the state of gaming in 2025. Expedition 33 is a visual marvel—a turn-based RPG with graphics that blur the line between film and gameplay. It’s the kind of game juries love. Silksong, however, is a mechanical playground. It demands mastery.
By sweeping the Steam Awards, Silksong has proven that the PC audience prioritizes "feel" over fidelity. The win confirms that the four-month window since its September 4th release was exactly enough time for the community to digest the game’s massive scope. We aren't just looking at a sequel that rode the hype train; we are looking at a title that survived the inevitable backlash of inflated expectations and came out cleaner on the other side.
Crucially, Silksong brought home a second, perhaps more telling trophy: "Best Game You Suck At." This isn’t a participation award; it’s a warning label. The new mechanics showcased in recent deep-dives reveal why this game broke so many players. Unlike the Knight’s reactive playstyle in the original, Hornet is proactive, demanding aggression.
The inclusion of the "Rosary" stringing mechanic adds a layer of anxiety to every encounter. You aren’t just losing money when you die; you’re losing the ability to interact with the world’s economy unless you bank your currency at specific, hard-to-reach shrines. This creates a "push your luck" dynamic that defines the Silksong experience. The community voted for this frustration because overcoming it feels earned. When you finally breach the "Citadel of Bone"—a late-game area that has become infamous for its vertical difficulty spikes—you haven't just watched a cutscene; you’ve survived a gauntlet.
The most fascinating detail to emerge from the post-award discourse is the widespread praise for the game’s structural opacity. We now know that Silksong was designed with a "fake-out" ending. A significant portion of the player base likely rolled credits without ever seeing the true "Act 3," which requires finding the obscure "Weaver’s Loom" items to unlock.
Most AAA studios would be terrified to hide 30% of their budget behind a secret wall. Team Cherry did it anyway. This boldness is why the game resonated so deeply with Steam voters. It treats the map not as a checklist of chores, but as a mystery to be solved. The fact that the "Silk Soul" mode fundamentally remixes enemy placements rather than just bloating health bars further proves that this game was built for the long haul, not just a launch weekend binge.
Silksong’s victory is a reminder that "vaporware" is only a temporary status. The game’s development cycle was long and silent, but the final product speaks volumes. It managed to eclipse the sheer spectacle of Expedition 33 by offering a combat loop that feels infinite. For the millions who voted, the erratic, acrobatic, and punishing world of Pharloom wasn't just a game they played in 2025—it was the place they lived.
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